Robert E. Lee was many years removed from fame when -- as a young officer in the Army Corps of Engineers --he packed up and left his quarters at Fort Monroe in late October 1834.

But the report he gave when he reported for his new job at the office of the Army's chief engineer in Washington, D.C. a few days later left no doubt that one of the nation's largest building projects to that date had resulted in a nationally important military landmark.

Spawned by the embarrassing destruction wrought by the British during the War of 1812, the "Gibraltar of the Chesapeake" was pronounced complete on Nov. 1, 1834 after 15 years of construction.

But as impressive as the great stone bastion might have been with its formidable batteries and 1.2-mile-long moat, no one then could have guessed just how large and continuous a role it would play as the history of Hampton Roads and America unfolded.

" 1. "An aerial photograph of Fort Monroe"? Nope. It's an aerial photo of the moated citadel that makes up only a fraction of Fort Monroe's 570 acres. Yes, the citadel is sometimes called the fort, but journalists are responsible to be clear. They ought to stop...

Robert E. Lee, the famous Civil War general, was a young second lieutenant when he served as an engineer supervising the completion of Fort Monroe. This old photo shows the water battery that Lee worked on. Only a small portion of the outermost magazine has survived.

Robert E. Lee, the famous Civil War general, was a young second lieutenant when he served as an engineer supervising the completion of Fort Monroe. This is a copy of the portrait of Lee by William West in 1839.

Robert E. Lee, the famous Civil War general, was a young second lieutenant when he served as an engineer supervising the completion of Fort Monroe. This photo shows Lee's quarters right outside the Casemate Museum in Fort Monroe, Hampton, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007.

Before the landmark Governor’s Palace and James River plantations appeared in the early 1700s, a mostly forgotten building boom produced Virginia’s first brick dwellings. Completed in 1665, Bacon’s Castle in Surry is the oldest survivor. But many others vanished. --...

With today's announcement of a new preservation agreement protecting 65 acres of land involved in the bloody May 5, 1862 Battle of Williamsburg, there's plenty of reason to remember the importance of an early and defining clash that is too often overshadowed. Here are some past stories, a photo...